


Not A Tale Even The Dead Men Would Tell You

by thatcrocshoe



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Red Hood: Lost Days
Genre: But there is a mention of that one thing Talia did to BruceTM, Don’t know why everyone shits on Talia if we forgave Damian for the shit he’s done, F/M, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I know how canon treats Talia/Jason but hear me out, Non-Explicit Sex, So did Jay tbh, Talia al Ghul is Not a Rapist, Talia deserved better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 22:40:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28999914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatcrocshoe/pseuds/thatcrocshoe
Summary: Hear me out.Talia redemption arc. Or..uh..some sort of prelude for it.(DC writers are cowards so I’ll do it myself.)Just to make it clear that I’m not trying to justify the stuff Talia did. But I honestly find it hard to believe she doesn’t regret it.Talia’s just a complex character, guys.
Relationships: Mention of Talia al Ghul/Bruce Wayne, Talia al Ghul & Jason Todd, Talia al Ghul/Jason Todd
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	Not A Tale Even The Dead Men Would Tell You

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I wrote down while I was trying to think of how I could actually make my girlfriend see that Talia’s actions are not of her own will due to the League’s training (and Ra’s). 
> 
> How would I explain that Talia’s also misunderstood? I thought of using one of the only times in comic history where Talia explicitly disobeyed her father. And why shouldn’t I use my bro Jason Todd?
> 
> So here it is. My own take on how both characters might’ve felt during their time bringing Jason back in Red Hood: Lost days.
> 
> — Also my first fic on ao3! —

Jason Todd remembers the explosion. That was his last sight before everything went dark. Broken bones, the intoxicating smell and taste of blood all over him. Sheila Hollywood screaming and expecting him to help her out of her restraints...

..And no Batman there to save them.

But then he’s drowning. Gasping, trying to get rid of the flooding feeling gathering up inside his lungs like a tidal wave washing over him.

Though, just as quickly, he’s seeing green. Royal emerald green eyes staring right down at him with worry.

“ ..Can you hear me? “

There’s a smooth voice, and he can suddenly feel again. He can feel her long fingers cradling his head close in a protective way. Feel the lukewarm water, and how damp the atmosphere is. Feel the way his wet clothes stick to his body.

That erupts a violent cough from his throat, which makes him also feel the burning in his chest and the ripple from his lungs makes him gasp even more as his nails dig into the stranger’s arms.

Jason Todd’s first moments after being brought back to life instigate fear within him.

He suddenly recalls being inside a box. Then, his hands are hitting the wooden casket. He cringes at the dirt surrounding him and the way he can barely breathe. Jason doesn’t recognise he was six feet under the ground until he claws his way out of there.

The second Boy Wonder. The teen who thought he was in control of it all...

Suddenly..wasn’t.

After his throat stops burning, Jason immediately seeks to say something. Anything.

...What comes out is a bloodcurdling scream.

“ WHERE AM I?! “

———

Ever since the day she had brought Jason back, he’d been having nightmares. It was to be expected. He had been exposed to the madness of the pit, after all.

..Which was something that Talia was very much acquainted with. But she had no idea that it could get this bad. Her deaths were usually quick and smooth. Ra’s always made sure she’d die before the woman could even react.

But Jason’s death had been different.

With each scream, she could hear the way his bones would break under the hard clanking of a crowbar hitting his flesh. He’d cry at night, and Talia did everything in her power to smother his desperate sobbing.

She’d forced the boy to flee as soon as he’d woken up in the pit. Because she’d disobeyed her Father. And who knows what would happen if he found the boy now.

But Talia did her best to visit him. To comfort Jason..even if she didn’t entirely know how to do that. Mostly because she’d come to regret ever exposing him to that substance.

“ Why did you do this to me? “ He whimpered, and his icy blue eyes looked as if he could’ve burned her with only his gaze.

“ Apologies. I could not bear to see your story end that way, Jason Todd. “ 

That’s all she could say, anyway.

Talia was very much like Jason, in a way. They both felt like the simple fact that they were alive was suffocating. Jason was young, but had experience of the real world. In some ways.. He’d gotten to live more than her. Since Talia had always existed inside this assassin-themed bubble.

Talia also felt like she should’ve never been taken to the pit. She, too, had nightmares that tormented her very being. Like she brought death with her every step. ..But she’d never complain or ask for help. It wasn’t in her blood to do so.

So, she’d help Jason. She’d help him because no one had ever tried to rescue her from herself.

———

She shushes Jason gently, holding him close in her arms. The boy whom she’d rescued from his own fears had now become a man under her tutelage.

He sighs quietly, resting his head on her stomach as she plays with his hair. Talia found this oddly soothing. Not just for Jason’s nightly terrors, but also her own.

“..Does it..does it hurt for you, too..?” He whispers rather hesitantly, the broken shade of blue once clashing with her royal emerald green eyes.

“ When a wound stings to the point where you can’t bear it, it makes your whole body numb, doesn’t it? I suppose I’ve grown numb to that same feeling, Jason.” Talia hums, her voice as smooth as ever as she runs her fingers through his hair.

And that had confirmed it. Talia al Ghul was just as scared as he was.

———

But then she’s letting him go. Talia stopped showing up as frequently as she had for the past years. Because he had no allegiance to the League. Those fights weren’t his own. They were hers. She was the sworn heir to the Al Ghul legacy, after all. The daughter of a demon. The ruthless killer. ..Jason Todd was merely a soldier caught in the crossfire.

“ ..What about you?” He mumbles, looking worried all of a sudden.

His reaction made a small smile form on her lips. “This is where our worlds should part. I am no longer a concern to you, Jason.”

..Because the war she had been fighting was with Batman, not his Robin. She was meant to marry the only man who was worthy of her in this world. ..And that would be Bruce Wayne. It had to be.

“..Bullshit. Of course ‘m going to worry about you, T.”

She chuckles and her smile widens. ..He always had the typical Gothamite accent, didn’t he? “That’s awfully sweet of you. “

..But having people care about her wellbeing wasn’t normal. In fact- more people wanted her dead than alive. 

“ I’m serious. I don’t feel good about leaving you with these weirdos.” Jason huffs, and then he’s holding her hands tightly as he pulls her along with him. ..And Talia just couldn’t bring herself to say no.

..Just one more day. And then she’d let him be.

———

But then Ra's is ordering Talia to give him an heir. ...As if he had the authority to demand his daughter something like that.

Which..he did, really.

Talia exhales shakily as she takes another sip of her drink, glaring down at the glass in her hand. ..The only person who’d Ra’s had deemed worthy of her was Batman. But the man would never willingly give her what she wanted. What Ra’s needed.

..But if the boy had known about this arrangement, Jason would have surely censored the way she’d let her father dictate her every action. But, of course, she would never seek for help or advice. Especially from her protégée. Her own way of resting her thoughts was whenever she’d help Jason with his harsh setbacks and outbursts.

...

Didn’t she say she would let him go..?

“ ...How come you give a shit about me?” He chuckles weakly, already tired out of his mind after yelling until his throat was raspy and dry.

“ You remind me of myself.” She states, holding the man close- just as she’d always done.

Jason huffs, moving up slightly as his arms wrap back around her. “...Is it all the crying and screaming?” He whispers.

..Talia doesn’t remember ever responding.

———

She doesn’t even know how it started. A few drinks were thrown into the mix, a few touches here and there, and soon enough, Jason’s lips are on hers and she’s letting him. ..She supposes that their loneliness had to take over at some point.

“..I don’t deserve this.” Talia breathes out, caressing the back of his head as his cold lips trace the line of her jaw.

“..Neither do I.” He tells her.

..So Talia lets him.

Sex wasn’t something foreign to the daughter of the Demon But this time..? It wasn’t mindless or rushed. Jason had held her tight, and for once- she felt safe in someone’s hold.

No matter how pathetic that feeling she’d tried to drown out was for her. ...She still felt it deep in her entrails, eating at her insides the more she tried to deny it. But Talia was certain that Jason had felt it, too. ..A feeling both of them refused to acknowledge out loud.

———

...And that was it. The mindless spiral of her own loneliness had taken control of her once more, making her live under the influence of a fantasy that could’ve never been fulfilled.

But Talia al Ghul wasn’t meant to ever feel safe in someone’s arms. ...And just the thought of it scared her.

So, the next day, she’s having a friendly chat with Bruce Wayne and drugging his drink. Seeking, longing for that very same feeling she’d had with Jason.

..The feeling that she didn’t have the words to express.

Not even as Batman gave her the heir that her father longed for. Talia felt empty. She supposes its due to forcing an intoxicated man that doesn’t love her to give her a child.

...Did she ever feel guilty for it?

’ Everything I do is for the good of the al Ghul Empire. ‘ That is what she would’ve said.

...What a load of bullshit.


End file.
